My first cabinet

[BerwynIrish]

I have a website up with pictures of my WIP from-scratch arcade project at http://carrie.d.home.comcast.net/page1.html

There's nothing unique about the construction. The design is lifted straight from Arcade Paradise 3. I still figured I'd share it because if I can do it, anyone can. I never even touched a power tool before this and I'm fairly clumsy, but it's still turning out pretty good. So if anyone out there isn't taking the plunge because you're unsure of your skills, don't let that stop you.

[ChicagoDave]

Looking good so far....

[leapinlew]

I couldn't tell, but did you route the slot for your T-molding yet?

[danny_galaga]

hang on to those fingers! try and keep your digits decimal, not binary or octal 

[Havok]

What front end is that?

[BerwynIrish]

The front end is something I wrote in python. It's fairly simple but does exactly what I want. All it needs to know is a directory with the roms, a directory with the associated screenshots, and the commands for the associated emulators.

I did slot for the T-molding already. I'm not looking forward to installing the T-molding, as the slot is not centered in a couple places. How my router managed to change the depth of the bit as I was routing is still a mystery to me. 

[miles2912]

You nice work.  I am in the same boat you are.  Haven't done any woodworking since Jr.  High (82).  Just take your time and it all seems to come together.  One recommendation is to round out the corners on the front of the cab.  The T-Molding will press easier into nice smooth curves and will look nicer too.  What I did on my cab is I used a can of WD-40 and traced the curved bottom pattern on the MDF.  Then I  used a jig saw to rough it out and finally smoothed it all out with some sand paper.  I did have to re-cut the T-molding, but I should have smoothed it all out before cutting my t-molding.

Don

Edit - Spelling

[IG-88]

The front end is something I wrote in python. It's fairly simple but does exactly what I want. All it needs to know is a directory with the roms, a directory with the associated screenshots, and the commands for the associated emulators.

Would you like to share that FE with the rest of us? I may want to give it a try. 

[BerwynIrish]

I have no problem sharing the FE, but since it was intended for me needs only, you would likely need to be a bit familiar with programming (specifically, Python variable types) to be as satisfied with it as I am. The program is at http://s.dalton.home.comcast.net/gamelaunch.py

It's a Python script, so you need Python installed, as well as the Python PIL library. Also, the file http://s.dalton.home.comcast.net/blank.png should be placed in the same directory as the script.

It doesn't read a config file, and neither is there any run-time configuration. Everything is hard-coded. You would need to edit the "command" "romdir", "imagedir", "ignore", and "suffix" variables to reflect your setup.

Limitations: 1) You need a screenshot of every rom in png format. The front-end won't crash if you're missing any screenshots, but the games are only identified to the user through their corresponding png files.  2) It was written to be more or less full screen at 640 * 480 desktop resolution. I'm not normally a GUI programmer and I haven't tested it, but I didn't write any code to scale the program to the user's resolution, so I'm sure that a different resolution would not give the good fit that you see in my pictures. 3) You might have to move the configuration file(s) of an emulator to the same directory that the script is in.

Features: 1) Supports multiple emulators (the "command" variable). 2) Supports multiple suffixes for an emulator type (the "suffix" variable). I was surprised to see that there were one or two popular front ends that don't do this.  3) Does not require a mouse (except to exit the front end). 4) You can tell the program to ignore certain files in your rom directories (the "ignore" variable). Not to state the obvious, but this is handy for things like BIOS files.

Use (assumes MAME defaults): The joystick moves between game selections and pages, Player 1 button 4 is a shortcut to the first page, P1 button 5 is a shortcut to the middle page, and P1 button 6 is a shortcut to the last page. "Insert coin" cycles between emulators. The "1 player start" button will launch the selected game. 

[Havok]

Sweet! Welcome to the front end developers!!

 

(Now when does the new version get released?)

[leapinlew]

I did slot for the T-molding already. I'm not looking forward to installing the T-molding, as the slot is not centered in a couple places. How my router managed to change the depth of the bit as I was routing is still a mystery to me. 

Bummer! I've seen a few people handle this a few different ways

1. recut the slot and use a hot glue gun to insert the t-molding
2. Fill the bad spots with bondo and recut the slot

I don't know how well cutting the bottom portion off the T would work, but if you could get it smooth enough I suppose it would work. My guess is it would make more sense to recut the slot.

[BerwynIrish]

I did slot for the T-molding already. I'm not looking forward to installing the T-molding, as the slot is not centered in a couple places. How my router managed to change the depth of the bit as I was routing is still a mystery to me. 

Bummer! I've seen a few people handle this a few different ways

1. recut the slot and use a hot glue gun to insert the t-molding
2. Fill the bad spots with bondo and recut the slot

I don't know how well cutting the bottom portion off the T would work, but if you could get it smooth enough I suppose it would work. My guess is it would make more sense to recut the slot.

I was under the impression that a hot glue gun is used even if the slot is perfect, so I was planning on buying one anyway. Would it be necessary to use the router to recut the slots? I'm looking at about a foot and a half that has to be redone. The first thing I'm planning to try is to use a knife to widen the already existing slot. Is this practical with MDF? I really don't want to make any more sawdust at this point.

Sweet! Welcome to the front end developers!!

 

(Now when does the new version get released?)

For my purposes, the current version is pretty much as far as it's going to go. I would gladly make it more generic and user-friendly (add config files, support different image formats for the screenshots) if any non-programmer would want to use it. Where would I release it? I know there's sites with front end downloads, but I doubt that any of them would be interested in hosting such a simple program.

[Stobe]

If its that small of an area, you may be able to just cut off the "T" from that section of T-molding and use just the glue.

No one will ever know (except for everyone here at BYOAC, lol).

Keep up the good work.

-Stobe

[MovingTarget]

I was under the impression that a hot glue gun is used even if the slot is perfect, so I was planning on buying one anyway. Would it be necessary to use the router to recut the slots? I'm looking at about a foot and a half that has to be redone. The first thing I'm planning to try is to use a knife to widen the already existing slot. Is this practical with MDF? I really don't want to make any more sawdust at this point.

You shouldn't need to use hot glue if the slot is cut correctly.

Also, do NOT use a knife to widen the existing slot by using a prying motion, that could ruin the entire piece of wood.  If you're going to use a sawing motion (maybe you're using a serated steak knife) that should work.  I actually used a hand saw to make my corners deeper after having rounded the corners with sand paper after I used the router to cut the slot.  The hand saw blade fit in there perfectly and made the dept of the cut just fine.

Also, if your corners are still pretty sharp or if you have inside corners, cut a little V out of the T molding (the part that goes into the slot).  That will help it make the turns easier.

[danny_galaga]

I was under the impression that a hot glue gun is used even if the slot is perfect, so I was planning on buying one anyway. Would it be necessary to use the router to recut the slots? I'm looking at about a foot and a half that has to be redone. The first thing I'm planning to try is to use a knife to widen the already existing slot. Is this practical with MDF? I really don't want to make any more sawdust at this point.

You shouldn't need to use hot glue if the slot is cut correctly.

Also, do NOT use a knife to widen the existing slot by using a prying motion, that could ruin the entire piece of wood.  If you're going to use a sawing motion (maybe you're using a serated steak knife) that should work.  I actually used a hand saw to make my corners deeper after having rounded the corners with sand paper after I used the router to cut the slot.  The hand saw blade fit in there perfectly and made the dept of the cut just fine.

Also, if your corners are still pretty sharp or if you have inside corners, cut a little V out of the T molding (the part that goes into the slot).  That will help it make the turns easier.

i can vouch for notching on tight corners. works really well. on a few of the corners where i could see it was going to pull out over time, i used epoxy on the 't' as well. doesnt really stick to the vinyl, but does to the mdf. this locks it in place and you can still pull out the t molding if you need to...